Chapter 12 Section 4: The distribution of post houses and post kiosks

The greatest progress of the post system in the Han Dynasty was the diversion of post and post. At this time, the transmission by vehicle that had been popular since the Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States period had gradually been eliminated, and transmission by vehicle became the main method of long-distance communication. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, a common name for the postal transmission system was "Zhi".The "Customs of Customs" written by Ying Shao, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said: "Change post to home. Those who put it in place, measure its distance and place it." It means to change the postal transmission facility originally called "post" to "home".What is setting?It is to set up offices according to the measured distance.It is actually a rest stop for postal couriers. The name "post" also commonly appeared in the Han Dynasty, and its specific time was about later than Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.Because the transmission vehicles were too bulky, and also because of the financial difficulties of the Han government after Emperor Wu, the transmission vehicles with complicated and luxurious equipment followed the trend of the times, and gradually gave way to the lightweight transmission vehicles.And this kind of mail delivery method based on horse riding is officially named after "post".As for the original name of "Chuan", although it was still in use in the Han Dynasty, it was mostly used to indicate the nature of a state guest house, and it was still called "Chuanshe", which became a special place for receiving and sending off officials in the past and providing food, carriages and horses. place.Post plus upload, often collectively referred to as "post" or "post".These two characters are common in the history books of the Han Dynasty.

In 1958, in Kele Town, Hezhang County, Guizhou Province, an iron stove engraved with "Wuyang Chuan She Bi Er" was unearthed.According to the research of archaeologists, this is a cooking utensil reflecting the life of Chuanshe in the Han Dynasty.This iron stove is thick and solid, has good ventilation performance, and is easy to carry. It is very suitable for cooking on the road.Wuyang was the capital of Qianwei County in the Han Dynasty, and its hometown is south of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. "Bi Er" means that there are two of the same iron furnace, which are cast in one furnace.It is estimated that this cultural relic unearthed in Guizhou was originally built in ancient Wuyang, Sichuan or used by a post station belonging to Wuyang.This shows that there was a post road between the Sichuan and the nobles in the Han Dynasty.

In addition to the "Yizhi" based on horse biography, the Han Dynasty specifically used "post" to refer to those short-distance walking transmission methods.The agencies that manage this short walk to deliver letters are called "postboxes."The kiosk also serves as a transfer and rest stop for foot couriers.During the Han Dynasty, the name of the kiosk was more common, and the communication business of the post kiosk was a lot.This step pass is usually a relay delivery. The so-called "one pavilion in ten miles, one post in five miles, and the distance between postmen and people, two and a half miles away" in "Han Jiuyi" refers to this.Generally speaking, the distance between postal stations is five miles, and the distance between pavilions is ten miles.The courier at the post box relayed the two miles and a half between the two post offices.Some scholars have verified that there are still place names of "Erliban" in some places in Hebei, which is a legacy of the ancient postal kiosk system.

However, the kiosks in Han Dynasty were not all responsible for postal transmission tasks.The kiosks that also manage postal services are usually along the main roads.Most of the pavilions in the Qin and Han Dynasties were local grassroots administrative units.This kind of ordinary kiosk has a lot of management, and is responsible for collecting taxes and public security and catching robbers.Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, once served as the head of the Sishang Pavilion, which belongs to this ordinary pavilion.The kiosks along the traffic line also have the task of transporting government documents and military letters.In these special post booths, there are "postmen" who are responsible for delivering books.

Posthouse refers to the facilities for long-distance transmission of letters and documents.Urgent and important official documents of the Han Dynasty were transmitted by it.The advantage of the post office is that it is delivered quickly, usually with light vehicles and fast horses.The distance between post and post is generally 30 miles, also known as a home.The post office has prepared chariots and horses in advance, ready for use by the post envoys who are going back and forth at any time.In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Liu Xiu competed with Wang Lang, a local separatist force in Hebei, he used this kind of post transportation.At that time, Wang Lang tried to buy the general Geng Chun, but Geng Chun turned to Liu Xiu and escaped from the county overnight.With these fast horses, Liu Xiu strengthened her strength.The Han Palace asked Nanhai to send lychees to Chang'an all the year round, and the fresh fruits were delivered to the capital in time by express delivery.According to historical records, sending fresh lychees is a very arduous journey, and superhuman perseverance is required to complete this task.Xie Cheng's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" said: "The old offerings of longan, lychee and fresh food were delivered by post horses day and night, and some were poisoned by tigers and wolves, and the servants died incessantly." It is very risky to be a postman like this.